Almanac, a word applied in Roger Bacon's Opus Majus (1267) to permanent tables showing the apparent movements of the heavenly bodies. It is the Italian almanacco (about 1345), the French almanach, and the Spanish almanaque, the immediate source of all which, according to Dr Murray, was apparently a Spanish-Arabic al-manākh; an Arabic-Castilian vocabulary (1505) giving manākh, 'a calendar,' and manah, 'a sun-dial.' Further than this one cannot go, though attempts have been made to explain manākh from Semitic sources, and to connect it with the Latin manacus (properly mēnæus), 'a sun-dial,' of Vitruvius, or with the almenichiaka (in Eusebius, quoting Porphyrius), an Egyptian word signifying 'daily observation of things.' The Fasti (q.v.) of the Romans came nearer to our modern almanacs than the 'almanacs' known to Roger Bacon and Chaucer, for it was not till the 15th century that almanacs or ephemrides were prepared for definite periods, such as fifty or ten years; nor till the 16th for a single year. Thus, the earliest printed almanac was that Pro pluribus annis, published at Vienna in 1457 by the celebrated astronomer Purbach; whilst that printed at Nuremberg in 1473, by his pupil Regiomontanus, was for the thirty years from 1475 to 1506. The printer Engel of Vienna commenced the publication of an almanac in 1491; and Stöfler of Tübingen, in 1524. Copies of these are now very rare. In 1533 Rabelais published, at Lyons, his almanac for that year, and renewed the publication in 1535, 1548, and 1550. The fame and popularity of the celebrated astrologer, Nostradamus (q.v.), gave such an impulse to the publication of predictions, that, in 1579, Henry III. of France prohibited the insertion of any political prophecies in almanacs—a prohibition renewed by Louis XIII. in 1628. Before this, in the reign of Charles IX., a royal ordonnance required every almanac to be stamped with the approval of the diocesan bishop.
Prophetic almanacs still circulate to an incredible extent in France, in the rural districts and among the uneducated. The most popular of all these is the Almanach Liégeois, a venerable remnant of superstition. It was first published at Liège in 1625 by one Matthieu Laensbergh, whose existence, however, at any time seems very problematical. The Almanach Liégeois was a most convenient one for the illiterate, since by certain symbols attached to certain dates, the most unlettered persons could follow its instructions: thus the rude representation of a phial announced the proper phase of the moon under which a draught of medicine should be taken; a pill-box designated the planet most propitious for pills; a pair of scissors pointed out the proper period for cutting hair, a lancet for letting blood. Of course, amidst innumerable predictions, some may naturally be expected to come to pass. So in 1774, this almanac predicted that in the April of that year a royal favourite would play her last part. Madame Dubarry took the prediction to herself, and repeatedly exclaimed: 'I wish this villainous month of April were over.' In May Louis XV. died, and Madame Dubarry's last part was really played. The credit of old Matthieu was established more firmly than ever. In 1852 a number of commissioners, appointed by M. Maupas, minister of police, having examined between 7000 and 8000 of the national chapbooks, which included a great number of almanacs, pronounced them so deleterious, that it became necessary forcibly to check their circulation.
In England, so far was any restraint from being put upon the publication of prophetic almanacs, or 'Prognostications,' as they were usually called, that James I. gave a monopoly of the trade to the two Universities and the Stationers' Company, under whose patronage, and with the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Canterbury, flourished such productions as Lilly's Merlini Ephemeris (1644-81), Poor Robin's Almanac (1664-1824), and Moore's Almanac, under the editorship of Henry Andrews, which reached an annual sale of more than half a million (1743-1820); yet 'it would be difficult to find, in so small a compass, an equal quantity of ignorance, profligacy, and imposture, as was condensed in these publications.' The memory of Partridge, from 1678 to 1713 the prophet of the Stationers' Company, is preserved in Pope's Rape of the Lock, and in Swift's lively burlesque, in which the prophet's own death was predicted. In 1775 a decision of the Court of Common Pleas, in favour of a bookseller named Carnan, abolished the monopoly of the Stationers' Company. In 1779 Lord North brought in a bill renewing their privileges. After a powerful speech against the measure by Erskine, who exposed the pernicious influence of the productions published under the monopoly, it was rejected. The Stationers' Company, however, still maintained their ground by buying up all rival almanacs; and it was not until the publication, in 1828, of the British Almanac by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, that the eyes of the English public became opened to the irrational and deleterious nature of the commodity which their own indifference or folly, as much as the selfishness of their purveyors, had hitherto maintained in existence. The success of this admirable publication stimulated the Stationers' Company to publish the Englishman's Almanac. The British Almanac itself has from 1870 been the principal almanac published by the Stationers' Company. Whitaker's Almanack is a valuable compendium of information, started in 1869, and in 1899 extending, with supplement, to 930 pages.
In Scotland the earliest almanacs seem to have been produced about the beginning of the 16th century. Shortly after the beginning of the 17th century, the almanacs or 'prognostications' published at Aberdeen had begun to enjoy a celebrity which is hardly yet extinct. About 1677 they were sold for a plack each; and the annual circulation amounted, on an average, to 50,000 copies. In 1683 appeared a rival publication, under the title of Edinburgh's True Almanack, or a New Prognostication. For a long time the Scottish almanacs continued, like all others of that age, to contain little besides a calendar, with a list of fairs, and—what constituted the great attraction—predictions of the weather. But something more instructive and comprehensive became requisite, and the Edinburgh Almanac seems to have been among the first to respond to this requirement of advancing civilisation; for, by various additions, such as a list of Scottish members of parliament, it had, in 1745, been extended from the original 16 pages to 36. In twelve years from that date, it had swelled to 72 pages; in 1779 it had reached 252 pages. Since 1837 it has been published under the title of Oliver & Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac, and now extends to above 1100 pages. It contains an amount of information on all public matters, especially on those connected with North Britain, which, in its completeness, leaves little to be desired. What Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac is to Scotland, is Thom's Irish Almanac (1843) to Ireland—a work not less excellent, and even more extensive.
Of important national almanacs are the French Almanach Royal, afterwards Impérial, now National, begun in 1679, a bulky octavo volume, full of useful information; and the American Almanac and Treasury of Fact, a very meritorious publication, started in 1878. The earliest American almanac was published by William Bradford, at Philadelphia, in 1687. Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac (1732-57) may be noticed.
The Almanach de Gotha, published annually at Gotha by the great geographical house of Justus Perthes, has a European, or rather a cosmopolitan character. It was begun in 1764, in the German language, in which it was continued until Napoleon I. became emperor, when it was changed to the French language; since the Franco-German war of 1871 it has been published in both tongues. The almanac is a small pocket volume, containing at present more than 1100 pages of small type, and recording the sovereigns and royal families of every civilised country, with the civil, diplomatic, military, and naval officers, a great amount of statistical information, a compact summary of historical events, obituary notices of the most distinguished persons, and other matters of political interest. No book ever printed contains so much political and statistical information in so small a compass. The boundaries of states are given according to the latest treaties, with their extent, population, and revenues. The annuaire diplomatique contains the name of every diplomatic representative and attaché of Europe and America. The pay of officers of governments, national expenditures and debts, with the interest, and the number of representatives, are carefully given. When the Almanach de Gotha was commenced, there was but one republic in existence—that of Switzerland. It was then little more than a register of the crowned heads and royal families of Europe. It has been slow to recognise political changes, and for years after the French Revolution, continued to print under the head of 'France,' Louis XVII. as the reigning monarch. It was not until Napoleon became emperor that his name found a place in its pages, and then his whole family was given, as with the other royal houses. During the Empire, Napoleon I. considered this little publication so important, that he exercised over it a rigid supervision, and in 1808, an entire edition, which had just been worked off, was seized because Anhalt took precedence of Napoleon. To secure this rearrangement of the alphabet, the edition of that year was printed at Paris.
The most important astronomical almanac published in Britain is the Nautical Almanac, projected by the astronomer royal, Dr Maskelyne, and first published, with the authority of government, for 1767. After his death it gradually lost its character, and in 1830, in consequence of the numerous complaints made against it, the government requested the Astronomical Society to pronounce upon the subject. The suggestions of the Society were adopted, and in 1834 the first number of the new series appeared, with such additions and improvements as the advanced state of astronomical science rendered necessary. It is issued four years in advance of the year to which it refers. Still older than this almanac is the French Connaissance des Temps, commenced in 1679 by Picard, and now published under the authority of the Bureau des Longitudes. Its plan resembles that of the Nautical Almanac, but it contains a larger amount of original memoirs, many of them of great value. Similar works are the Berliner Astronomisches
Jahrbuch (1776), from 1830 till 1862 edited by Encke, and the American Nautical Almanac (1855).
Another kind of almanac, which has especially flourished in Germany and France, belongs rather to the class of publications known in Britain as Annuals (q.v.). Such have been the Almanach des Muses, des Dames, Populaire, Icarien, Napoléonien, &c., the latter of which were specially devoted to the interests of political and religious parties.
The heavy stamp-duty of fifteenpence per copy, to which almanacs were long liable in the United Kingdom, was abolished in 1834, since which time the character, number, and circulation of this class of publications have strikingly advanced. There is now a very large sale of almanacs in Great Britain for popular use, at not more than one penny each. See CALENDAR, CLOG ALMANAC; a series of articles in Notes and Queries (1885); N. Champion's Anciens Almanachs Illustrés (1885); and Whitworth's Churchman's Almanac from 1201 to 2000 (1883).